Baffled me

<p>Part of the following sentence is underlined; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Select the option that produces the best sentence. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A. </p>

<p>The gong, believed to have originated in Western Asia, reached China in the sixth century, where it continues to be used for a wide range of purposes, including as a military signal, a rhythmic accompaniment for vocal performance, and a ritual instrument.</p>

<p>(A) including as
(B) which include
(C) which includes
(D) including
(E) they include as
Why answer A is correct.</p>

<p>Shouldn’t it be C…? A makes no sense at all.</p>

<p>That is why I am confused. This is a question from collegeboaard’s today’s official sat question.</p>

<p>Hmmm… even their official explanation doesn’t make sense. And I just realized that D would also work…</p>

<p>No, the answer is definitely (A). We can eliminate (B), (C), and (D), because a gong must be used AS the mentioned purposes. The verb “include” is partly referring to the gong, so “as” is required. Gong is singular, so (E) is eliminated, leaving (A) as the correct answer, as desired.</p>

<p>Ohhhh… that makes sense. Hope that’s categorized as a Level 5 question…, otherwise I’m screwed.</p>

<p>Yeah, the percentage on this one was 23%. Hard, but good to understand :)</p>